Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus, a liquid discharge apparatus for use in the imprint apparatus, and an article manufacturing method using the imprint apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In a manufacturing process of semiconductor devices or the like, imprint apparatuses using an imprint technology have been in practical use as lithography apparatuses taking the place of exposure apparatuses. Imprint apparatuses include liquid discharge apparatuses for discharging imprint materials as liquid from discharge nozzles onto substrates. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-105360 discloses an ink discharge apparatus in which a tank is divided by a flexible member into a container of ink (first liquid) and a buoyancy generating chamber, and negative pressure is applied to the ink by using buoyancy of a float disposed in the buoyancy generating chamber that is filled with a second liquid.
If the ink discharge apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-105360 is used as a discharge apparatus of an imprint material for an imprint apparatus, there may occur such an abnormality that a hole is generated in the flexible member partitioning the tank into the container of the imprint material and the buoyancy generating chamber containing the second liquid. In the discharge apparatus as set forth in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-105360, if such a case occurs, it is concerned that the second liquid is mixed in the imprint material, thus deteriorating the quality of the imprint material to be discharged from the discharge apparatus, which might cause defects in products manufactured by the imprint apparatus.